Cotton picker spindle structure



May 4, 1948. D. B. BAKER COTTON PICKER SPINDLE STRUCTURE Filed oct. 2o, 1944 rzzJefzr:

l \\\\{\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\I W O pHL" Patentedl May 4, 1948 i lcE COTTON PICKER sPmnLE STRUCTURE Davia n. Baker, Riverside, nl., assigner to International Harvester New Jersey Company, a corporation of ApplicationOctober 20, 1944, Serial No. 559,487

' (Cl. ss-so) 7 Claims. 1

This invention has to do with spindles'employed lncotton-picking machines and relates more particularly to a novel spindle assembly employing a spindle having a detachably mounted sleeve-like barb-bearing cap.

The picker spindle assemblies of the present invcntion are adaptable for use interchangeably with those used in a cotton-picking unit ol.' the character displosed in United States Patent 2,140,631. These spindles, which rotate,` have crop clutching portions which are barbed "to enable them to better grasp the cotton bers of matured boils preparatory to winding the cotton thereonto and extracting it from the pods or boils. When` these barbs are sharp at their points the spindles are much more aggressive in gathering the crop, so as the barbs weardull in use lit ultimately becomes necessary to replace the barbcarrying parts of the spindles. c An object of this invention is the provision `of an improved spindle assembly wherein the barbs are formed upon a conveniently replaceable portion thereof which can be economically produced, The saving by such an improvement in the time and expense required for changing a set of spindles is very appreciable since there are six-hundredspindles in the larger units now produced.

During operation of the picking unit,` the spindles are continuously rotated about their respcctive individual axes while bodily revolved for `The above and other desirable objects inherent in and encompassed by the invention will be better understood after reading the ensuing description with reference to the annexed sheet of drawings, wherein:

Fig. lis a vertical sectional view taken through a spindle carrier barcontainingdrlving means forspindle assembliescarried thereon and showlng one of the spindle assemblies in side elevation and another in dotted outline; u

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the spindle assembly shown in Fig. 1, upon the line2 in that ligure, said vlew'lllustrating a preferred spindle assembly constructed accordin dotted outline.

cyclical endwise projection into and withdrawal from the plant row. Another object is the provision of a spindle assembly with a rugged mounting on the spindles for the replaceable barbbearing sleeves or caps whereby the latter are 4amply resistant to impairment by reactive forces r received from study stalks of the cotton plants.

Another important object is theprovision of a light-Weight spindle structure wherein the replaceable barb-bearing cap is hollow and much of the space enclosed thereby remains unoccupied by the supporting portion therefor on its associated spindle. i minimizing the This construction. in addition to amount of material discarded'in a Worn barbbearing portion, has the advantage of also minimizing the inertia of the assemblies and hence the torque required to commence their rotation. Since theV vehicle upon which the cotton-picking apparatus is started fromr rest simultaneously with the commencement of spindle ro ber of spindle assemblies is an appreciable factor `in determining whether the engine of a desired tation, the cumulative inertia of the great numing to the principles of this invention;

Fig, 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4 of Fig. 2.

With continued reference to the drawings and particularly to Fig. `1,' a section of a spindle carrler member or bar I0 is there illustrated with two spindle assemblies II of which the lower is shown This spindle carrier member Ill is but one of several of such members `embodied in a cotton-picking unit as that shown lin the above mentioned United States 2,140,631. Some existing machines employ a cotton-picking unit having iifteen ofthe bar-like carrier members I0, and each of these members I IJ'in such unitsis of a length to carry twenty of the spindle assemblies I I.v During operation of the picking unit the bar-like 'carriers III,` while maintained in an upright position, are revolved about a closed horizontal path wherebythe spindles, as Il, of each bar are projected into the Vcotton plant row during traversal of one portion of the path, withdrawn fromthe cotton plant row duringv traversal of another portion of the path. carried past a doing mechanism for brushing the picked cotton fromthe spindles during their traversal `of another portion of the` path, and subjected to a moistening apparatus for moisteningthe spindles in a nal portion ofthe path preparatoryto again being projected `into carrying member` Ill has vertically spaced thread- Patent I4. These bearing units I4 are dlsy ed openings i3, respectively, for the spindle assemblies Il.

Each of the spindle assemblies Il includes a hollow spindle holder member 22 having an exterior threaded section 23 at its inner end and a faceted section 24 for engagement by a wrench to facilitate screwing of the threaded section 23 into the threads of one of th'e holes I3 in the carrier bar i3. The spindle holding means 22 includes axially spaced bearing sleeves 25 and 25,

respectively, at the inner and outer endsof such l advanced into mesh with its associated or companlon gear I5.

The picker sleeve supporting portion 34 on the spindle of the illustrated spindle assembly, with which the other assemblies are identical, is provided with two radially enlarged faceted sections 33 and 33 having flat faces 4| and 42 engaging the inner sides or a picker spindle sleeve 43 which is polygonal in cross-section as illustrated in Fig. 3. These faceted sections 33 and 33 provide lateral support for the sleeve 43 and also prevent relative rotation between such sleeve and the spindle 32.

This sleeve 43 and a dust and moisture guard member 44 are assembled with the spindle 32 after the latter has been inserted through the conically shaped pressed steel structure having va hub 45 assembled with a spacer ring 45 at an annular shoulder 41 formed in the outer end of such ring. y

The left end of the faceted spindle enlargement 33 constitutes a contoured sleeve or cap coupling section cooperating with circumferentiallyspaced deformations in the vcap 43 to detachably retain the cap upon the spindle. While the deformable indentation means 5I serve to prevent accidental detachment of the sleeve-like cap and to secure such cap in mounted wedging relation on the axially-spaced mounting portions 33 and 33, they are distortable to expedite l contemplated removal.'

Sleeve-like caps 43 are provided with barbs 53 for grasping the cotton bers to facilitate winding of these fibers onto the spindles preparatory to their extraction from the boils. It is essential for the barbs 53 to be sharp at their points so they will give the Aspindle the aggressiveness l desired in grasping the cotton. After the points on the barbs 53 are dulled in use, the spindle must be serviced by replacing the barb-bearing portion. Employment of the sleeve 43, which is detachably associated with the spindle portion 34, leads to an economy since only a small portion of the rotatable spindle part need bediscarded. There is a further advantage in employing the barb-bearing sleeve 43, namely, that thissleeve has a hollow self-supporting barbbearing portion projecting freely beyond the outer end of the-solid spindles 32, whereby the weight of the projecting part of the spindle structure is minimized, reducing the inertia of the rotatable parts and thereby placing less starting load 4 upon th'e engine and the driving connections between the engine and the picker unit.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, I claim:e

1. In a cotton picker spindle structure; a rotatable spindle having a journal portion, a supporting portion disposed between said journal portion and an end of such spindle, and a noncircular transverse peripheral section associated with` said supporting portion of the spindle; a hollow generally-conical barbed sleeve-like cap open at its large-diameter end, said cap having a non-circular transverse peripheral section and being telescoped over said end of the spindle.

large-diameter end foremost, onto the spindle supporting portion incident to meshing the noncircular transverse peripheral sections f or preventing relative rotation of the spindle and cap, said cap exceeding the sleeve-supporting portion in length whereby the hollow opposite end of the telescoped cap projects endwise beyond and is supported solely by said spindle supporting portion. f

' holder 22. Said guard member is a generally 2. In a cotton picker spindle structure; a rotatable spindle having a journal portion and a sleeve-supporting portion disposed between said journal portion and fan end of such spindle; and

V,a sleeve-like cap having a hollow open-ended base portion at one end thereof telescoped endwise onto said sleeve-supporting portion for carriage thereby and rotation therewith, saidcap having a hollow generally conical barb-bearing portionl adjoining said base portion and reaching therefrom to the opposite end of such cap, and said cap exceeding said sleeve-supporting portion in length whereby the conical barbbearing portion of the telescoped Acap projects endwise from said end of the spindle.

3. In a cotton picker spindle structure; a rotatable spindle including a projecting sleeveholding end portion having a peripherally contoured coupling section spaced axially inwardly from the free end of such portion; and a sleevelike cap having a hollow open-ended base portion telescoped endwise over said free end of the spindle onto said sleeve-holding portion for carriage thereby and rotation therewith,'said cap having a deformation interlocked with said contoured coupling section to prevent accidental endwise displacement of the cap from the spindle,

land said cap also having a hollow self-supporting generally conical barb-bearing portion projecting freely endwise from the spindle beyond said end thereof. y

4. In a cotton picker spindle structure; a rotatable spindle including a lprojecting sleeveholding end portion having axially-spaced radially-enlarged mounting portions; and a sleevelike cap having a hollow open-ended base portion telescoped endwise over said end portion into mounted relation on said mounting portions, and said cap also having a hollow self-supporting generally conical barb-bearing portion projecting freely endwise from the spindle beyond said end thereof. v l

5. In a cotton picker spindle structure; a rotatable spindle including` a projecting sleeveholding end portion having axially-spaced ra-` dially-enlarged mounting portions with sections of their circumferential periphery spaced unequally radially from the principal axis of such spindle; and a sleeve-like cap having a hollow open-ended base portion telescoped endwise over said .end portion into mounted relation on said mounting portions, the inner periphery of said '5 base portion being contoured to mesh with the peripheral inequalities of said mounting portions holding end portion associated with an end thereof, said sleeve-holding portion having axially-spaced radially-enlarged mounting portions with facets on their circumferential peripheries one of said mounting portions being nearer to said end of the spindle than the other and being of less diameter than the other; and a sleeve-like conical cap having a hollow openended base portion telescoped endwise over said end portion, large end foremost over said end oi the spindle, into mounted wedging relation on said mounting portions, the inner periphery of mounting portion facets to constrain the cap to rotate with the spindle.

7. In a cotton picker spindle structure; a ron tatable spindle including a projecting sleeveholding end portion having associated with an vsaid base portion having facets resting upon the 6 end thereof, said slesve-holding portion having axially-spaced radially-enlarged mounting portions one of said mounting portions being nearer to said end of the spindle than the other and being of less diameter than the other; a sleevelike conical cap having a hollow open-ended base portion telescoped endwise over said end of the spindle into mounted wedging relation on said l mounting portions, `and deformable radial indentation means on said cap in clutching relation with one of said mounting portions to yieldably resist endwise removal of the cap from the spindle. t

DAVID B.l BAKER..y

REFERENCES CITED VThe following references are of record in the file of thispatent:

UNITED STAIES vPATENTS Number Name Date 345,312 Mason July 13, 1886 l 453,351 Todd June 2, 1891 902,227 Gray Oct. 27, 1908 1,636,132 Hoofnagle July 19, 1927 1,996,247

Johnston Apr. 2, 1935 

